The new girl
by Skeleton's Dance
Summary: Sakura is the new girl in school and immediately on her first day bullied by the popular bunch. The problems at home added to her school situation make it even harder for her. Typical drama story. rated M for violence and language. SasuSaku
1. The First day

**The New Girl**

_Chapter one- First day_

So this was it, Sakura stood in front of the large school building. She took deep breaths gathering the courage to make her way inside. It could not get any worse than it had been at her previous school could it? 'Right… it's now or never' she thought as she started making her way across the parking lot towards the front entrance.

Sakura slowly made her way into the building, her face directed to the ground her school bag over one of her shoulders. She hadn't been inside for more than a minute, when she heard the first whispering sounds. She knew what they were saying, other students were pointing and whispering about her, she had been through it all before, she managed to pick up some sentences: _"Look! That must be her!"_, _"She looks kinda weird though"_ and _"Would pink be her natural hair color?"_

She couldn't help but to hear these voices, these comments were innocent enough, but Sakura couldn't help but wonder whether it would turn out the same as it did at her old school. Would she be called names and be bullied just like they did back there? She resumed walking, looking down counting the tiles as she passed them. Finally she reached her classroom she walked in and sat down somewhere at the back. She grabbed her sketchbook and started making some sketches. She was silent, trying not to draw any attention to herself, she didn't look up even as she heard the other students enter the classroom, she did hear some silent whispers, but tried her hardest to ignore them, and push everything she did hear from her mind.

"Dattebayo, You must be Sakura!" A loud voice exclaimed, she didn't look up to see who had talked to her, and still without looking up she answered his question in a soft voice which was barely louder than a whisper: "Yes, I am." She was hoping for the loudmouth to go away, but he didn't: "I'm Uzumaki Naruto, great to meet you!" He said as he sat down on the chair next to her. Slowly she looked up, she was amazed to say the least. Was he actually being friendly to her? "N-Nice to meet you too, N-Naruto." She smiled a little at him. "What are you drawing Sakura-Chan?!" Naruto took a peek over her shoulder "Geez, you are very good at drawing, your drawings look kinda sad though, dattebayo." He was right her pictures did look sad, she smiled a little at the picture she had been drawing before he had interrupted her. "I'll try to make them a little happier, Naruto" The blonde laughed sheepishly "So it's your first day here, huh?" Sakura nodded slightly. "I'll show you around after class, Sakura-chan!" Sakura smiled slightly, but didn't look Naruto directly in the eye: "Thank you Naruto" She mumbled before looking up as her teacher entered the classroom:

"That's Kakashi-sensei, he'll be your tutor for the rest of the year, dattebayo, he's quite cool, though the only thing he does during the lesson is reading that weird book icha icha paradise. You should go to him if you've got any problems with school or personal things." She heard Naruto say and she realized he was talking to her. "He looks quite nice, but why is half of his face covered?" Naruto looked at her grinning a bit: "Well none of us actually knows probably just had an accident or something."

"Okay class! Let's start off with introducing our new student; Haruno Sakura" Kakashi started "Sakura would you like to come up to the front and tell us something about yourself?" Sakura sank a little deeper in her chair she didn't want to come up to the front it would make her the center of all attention, when she realized there was no way around it she slowly got up, and made her way to the front of the classroom, she stood next to Kakashi as she softly spoke: "Well I'm Haruno Sakura, I'm seventeen years old, I love to draw and any kind of sport and that would be about it, but I especially love to dance" Kakashi smiled, well Sakura assumed he was smiling, since only one of his eyes was visible she couldn't really see if this was true.

Sakura's first lesson passed rather quickly Kakashi-Sensei had given them several assignments to do and Sakura had finished in less than a quarter of an hour since all the assignments were fairly easy, so she had resumed drawing, with an awestruck Naruto who had been starring at how she had done all the assignments in such a short period of time. When he had asked her about she had answered that she had never had too much trouble learning, which was only a part of the truth. The actual truth was that she wanted to spend the least possible time in the same room as her father, so she spend most of her time in her room studying.

After another period, which had been mathematics Sakura had her lunch break. She sat at a table with Naruto when another girl came to sit with them. Sakura didn't look up but was very surprised to say the least, at her previous school she had been eating lunch in the bathroom to avoid the awkward situation of sitting at a large table eating her lunch by herself. Sakura carefully glanced at the girl who had joined them, she had seen her during her two classes but hadn't talked to her yet. "H-Hi I-I'm Hi-…Hinata" the girl said in a soft voice. Apparently she was very shy, Sakura looked at her for a moment, she had sort of purple hair and her eyes were also a light shade of lavender she was little taller than Sakura, but then again Sakura was very short. "Hi I'm Sakura" She answered softly after a while giving Hinata a small smile. "So how do you like school so far?" Hinata asked Sakura to start a conversation. Sakura was silent for a while not fully registering that the question had been intended for her, then she thought for a while before softly speaking "It's a lot better than my old school to be honest, I like the atmosphere here people seem very welcoming."

Suddenly Naruto interfered with the conversation "It might seem like that Sakura, but not everyone is that nice…" He said as he looked at a group of students sitting at another table, all the way on the other side of the room. Sakura followed his gaze and saw a girl with long blond hair which she had pulled up in a high ponytail, a guy with hair put up so his head looked a lot like a pineapple, judging by the way those two acted towards another Sakura concluded that they must have been dating, there was another girl she had two buns in her chocolate brown hair and a guy with long brown hair in a low ponytail sitting there.

The girl with the blond hair caught Sakura looking at her and made her way to the table. "What were you looking at?" Sakura immediately looked down at her plate, which was still filled with her lunch. She didn't dare respond, maybe if she kept ignoring the girl she would go away again. "I asked you something, Pinky!" Some other students gathered behind the blond girl. Sakura slowly looked up "I-I'm sorry, i-it won't happen again." The blond girl started laughing "Damn right it won't!" Then she stopped, her voice suddenly changed as she sat down next to Sakura and wrapped an arm around her, she said in a voice as sweet as honey: "I know you wish to belong to the popular bunch and be friends with us instead of with them, everybody does. But not everyone fits in, you'd have to be pretty, not have such a large forehead and have something that seems like a natural hair color" Everybody started laughing at her.

She heard different people shout at her: "Damn right you emo!" Sakura looked down again she didn't say anything. 'Seems like it's going to be more or less the same' she thought as she kept her face directed at the ground. Naruto stood up: "BUGGER OFF! Leave her alone" Everyone started to laugh louder, but finally they did walk away still laughing and calling her names. Sakura slowly looked up at Naruto and happily thought: 'No it will be better' She felt a comforting arm of Hinata wrap itself around her shoulders. 'I've got friends now'…

The rest of the day passed relatively quickly before she knew it she was at her last class of the day; the class she had dreaded the most, music class. This year they would mostly focus on singing, and today they would be assigned the song they would have to perform to receive one of their most important grades of this year. "Remember," their teacher said as she handed out the papers with different songs on them. "You're not allowed to trade I know which song everyone of you is supposed to do, and you'll have to prepare the song to perform it the lesson before the Christmas break." Sakura unfolded her note it said she'd have to sing the sound of silence by Simon and Garfunkel, she sighed, at least it was a song she knew but she already dreaded having to perform it with the entire class as her audience. She noticed that Naruto was looking over her shoulder to see what song she had gotten: "Awh, I wish I had a song like that, Come on I'm stuck with Katy Perry, your song at least fits a little!" She laughed warmly at the thought of Naruto singing hot'n cold, doing the dance and everything. "Hey that isn't funny Sakura-chan" but Naruto was laughing as well especially since he was happy he had seemed to have gotten Sakura to lighten up a little.

When Sakura walked out the school building after that last period of her first day she felt relieved. Having two friends already felt better than none, Sakura actually felt that she could take on anything now she had friends. 'It can only get better than my previous school years now.' She thought contently as she made her way home. When she got near her house though she realized it wouldn't be that much better, since her father was still the same, or as she'd usually put it: She hadn't changed, she still wasn't the person her father wanted her to be.

Slowly she opened the front door and stepped inside "I'm home" she softly said, but loud enough for her father to hear. "Sakura! I want to speak to you!" She slowly walked into the living room: "Yes, dad?" she said and she could smell the scent of alcohol coming from him. He had been drinking again; she knew this meant trouble. "Haven't they taught you any manners yet?!" He shouted and she immediately understood what she had done wrong, she immediately turned her head to the ground and bend forward slightly in a small bow. "You're too late! How many times do I have to tell you, you're not supposed to look people in the eye, they are better than you and don't want to be bothered by the likes of you!" He stood up his chair falling back in the process and grabbed her by the back of her collar, she tried to pull the front away from her neck, since she couldn't breath but her attempts were futile. He threw her against the door and started walking towards her slowly, purposefully. She tried to crawl away, in an attempt to hide her self. He pulled her arms away from her face with one of his large hands and slapped her across the face with the other saying: "I thought you would have learned after all the beatings I have had to give you. You're bringing this on yourself you know? I don't do this because I like this… I'm trying to teach you a lesson. Now get your fat ass to your room I don't want to see you for the rest of the day and you're not to have dinner tonight!" He literally kicked her out into the hallway and she ran up to her room crying.

She closed the door behind her and stood in front of her mirror crying, he had said it again… He had called her fat again, she looked at herself and she couldn't believe after all she had tried to make him happy, she had lost another pound this week and honestly she didn't know what else she could do to lose more weight. She had been visiting the gym secretly hoping to lose weight and she had but apparently he didn't think it was enough. There she stood before the mirror she stood there crying until the tears wouldn't come anymore. Then she decided she would visit the gym again, knowing her father she had about three hours before he would come up to her room. So she dried her face and covered the place where her father had hit her with some make up, she packed her bag and climbed out through her window, she quickly headed to the gym.

When she arrived home she was exhausted she had been moving at the gym for two and a half hours none stop. She sat down behind her desk and started doing her homework. First she did her English homework, followed by mathematics, she heard the door open behind her and stood up bowing to her father who had entered the room. "Hello, dad" She knew what would be next. She knew it all too well, so she started to undress leaving her only in her underwear, she stepped in front of the mirror, waiting for him to come and point out her flaws. He did this everyday hoping she would listen and improve herself, which she always tried to do, but she would never be perfect in his eyes. Her father took his place right behind her: "It's getting better but you're still nowhere near perfect!" He grabbed the skin of her belly and showed it to her. "You see that?" she only nodded "That's all fat. That needs to disappear I want a daughter, I can be proud of… In stead I've got a daughter who is a shame to the family! Don't I at least deserve to have a pretty and smart daughter? After you already took my wife away from me?" She looked down ashamed "I'm sorry dad you're right you do deserve a pretty and smart daughter… You don't deserve having me as your daughter"

Before she knew it he hit her in the face again she fell to the ground because of the impact: "Then why aren't you perfect!?" After a long beating he started walking to the door and she softly mumbled: "I'll make you proud father…" Which made him stop in his track momentarily "I really doubt that…" he said before finally walking out and leaving her there lying on the ground crying. She felt a warm substance slowly starting to cover her face. She closed her eyes her mind slowly drifting off; this had all started when her mother died, they had been a happy family before that. She sighed remembering what her mother was like, reminiscing the way she always used to smell of flowers, she couldn't help but smile as she lay there bare and cold on the ground. Her father had been happy too, back when his wife was still alive. He had loved her and Sakura as well. He wouldn't have wanted to change a thing about his daughter back then.

But when his wife died his love for his daughter died with it, he blamed Sakura for her death, and he had made sure that Sakura regretted it every single day. And regret it she did; she had murdered her mother after all.

… **Here the revised chapter one, let's see if I can restore this story make it better and finish it after all these years. I'm planning to add descriptions and make the story progress a lot slower this time. Thanks to for giving me the boost to give it another go!**


	2. Why is he here?

**The New Girl**

_Chapter two- Why is he here?_

_Flashback_

"_Daddy, Daddy can we go get a Christmas tree now?" A young Sakura ran up to her father excitedly she had woken up this morning and it had snowed and she had always associated snow with Christmas. Her dad lifted her up in his arms hugged her and said: "I don't know Sakura-chan, we should go ask your mother." As he said this he made his way to the living room where Sakura's mother was reading a book. "Sakura wants to go get a Christmas tree, honey. Is that all right with you? Are you coming with?" Her mother smiled and got up "Of course that's all right."_

_On the way to the stand where they would buy their Christmas tree Sakura and her mother were singing along to all sorts of Christmas songs. She watched her mother closely, and laughed when her father would some times join in with a very low Santa voice, while he kept his eyes on the road. She didn't know this would be the last happy memory she'd have of them._

_At the Christmas stand Sakura chose a very tall and 'fat' tree as she called it, they managed to tie it on the roof of the car. And Sakura and her mother had made jokes about their undercover car which wouldn't be recognized had it been found in the woods. _

_They drove back carefully with the car on the roof, Sakura constantly checked whether the tree was still there, which it of course was. They we're nearly home when a speeding car ignored the red lights and hit them full on the right side of the car. This was the last day her father had loved her. And Sakura would remember it every single day._

_End flashback_

When Sakura woke up the next morning she was freezing cold, she hadn't had the energy last night to get up from the floor and lay down in her bed. An hour after her father had left her in her room the other day, he had come back and had given her another deserved beating.

She slowly got up from the floor and made her way to her bathroom, she took a shower and washed her complete body, then she stepped out and inspected the damage that had been done last night. She had been lucky that her father had not given her any bruising hits in her face. She brushed her hair, brushed her teeth and put on the necessary make up, she walked back to her room and started getting dressed. She made sure her clothes covered any bruises on her body, afterwards she made her way downstairs silently, careful not to wake her father and went out without eating any breakfast, her stomach churned on her way to school but she'd have to be strong.

When she arrived in the classroom two weeks later she noticed a great group of girls standing around a table, squealing things like: "Oh my God he's so cute! Can you believe it?!"

Sakura sat down on her chair, taking her place in the back of the classroom, when the teacher entered everyone sat down and she could see what all the fuss was about. She cussed under her breath "What is he doing here?" Naruto who was sitting next to her had heard Sakura "Hm you mean Sasuke-teme? He's quite okay though he got kicked out his old school, seems like he went too far bullying some girl at school or something, I don't really get it, he's not too much of a bully here, he keeps to himself most of the time.." She looked down at her sketch book "Yes I know why he got kicked off, Naruto." Naruto stared at her looking completely puzzled "How would you know that? How do you even know Sasuke-teme!?" "That girl you were talking about is sitting next to you, Naruto" Naruto jumped up completely shocked and exclaimed: "WHAT YOU MEAN HE DID THAT TO YOU, SAKURA-CHAN?!" Sakura jumped up as well trying to cover his mouth and stop him from attracting so much attention to them.

Sasuke turned around to see what was happening at the back of the class and saw that girl standing there, she seemed to be struggling with that dobe… 'Wait she's the girl from my old school, so she went here, huh?' he grinned; this could be fun. She turned her head to look at him for a moment she looked as if she was scared, he could see that she was close to crying. But she looked down at her table while sitting down to hide her face from his view.

"Yes Naruto, he did that to me… but well it's fine I've got you and Hinata now, right? That's all in the past" Sakura smiled a little as she looked up at Naruto who was grinning broadly, Sakura had gotten used to having her two friends around and in those two weeks with them she had really started to loosen up around them. "Yes of course Sakura-chan we'll be there for you, dattebayo!"

"Hello class if you'll all be silent, we've got a new student in our class again, named Uchiha Sasuke, he came from the same school as Sakura did. Would you introduce yourself, please, Sasuke?"

"hn… I haven't got anything to say" Sasuke said as he stayed seated, girls giggled at his rude reaction to their teacher. Sakura was just sitting at her desk staring at her desktop 'still the same jerk…' She started doing her homework after she had finished the assignment they had been given in class but other than that she only chatted with Naruto a little, making sure to keep their volume down enough so they would not attract any attention.

The bell rang as all the students packed their bags and went to their next lesson. Sakura checked her schedule… Physical Education… she would have to come with a good excuse to skip it, otherwise she would be in big trouble. Her father had given her another bad beating the previous night and her gym clothes would reveal too many bruises on her body. Slowly she made her way to the gym and when she arrived she walked up to her teacher.

"Ehm sorry sir?" she spoke very softly

"Yes my youthful student?"

Okay this man was officially marked as weirdo. He was wearing some kind of green jumpsuit, his eyebrows were thick and his hair shone unnaturally "I-I won't be able to join in the coming lessons since I've ehm… got an injury to my knee, it's quite bad."

Her teacher looked truly disappointed; maybe a little too disappointed as tears had started streaming down his face "I hate it when the youthfulness of young ones is taken away from them just because they have to much of it and their limbs can't always handle that! Have you got any idea how long this injury will take to cure?"

Sakure took a step back starting to look a little scared "Well… my doctor told me I would have to stop any strenuous exercises for at least three to four weeks"

"Hm… okay well you can sit at the side of the gym then and if you come next lesson I will have thought of an assignment for you, my youthful student!"

She sat down on one of the benches at a side of the gym she saw how different students walked out in their P.E. outfits. She quickly turned her gaze to the ground as she saw Sasuke walking out of the dressing room; she knew she would have a problem if he caught her watching him.

"Hey, look everyone, Pinky isn't joining in P.E.!" she heard the blonde haired girl of the other day shout. Naruto had told her her name was Ino and she was the most popular girl in school. "Afraid to show your ugly-ass body?" the girl with bunsin her hair, who Naruto had called Tenten, joined in: "Maybe she's ashamed since her body is too fat"

"No that's not it…" she heard Sasuke's cold voice say, he snickered slightly at their remarks, he had seen her sickly thin legs last school year, them calling her fat could almost be called ironic. 'Please let him shut his mouth, he wouldn't tell everyone right?' She thought as she stared at him with a horrified expression on her face. She knew he didn't know the real story behind her injuries but he had seen them and if everyone would know teachers would most probably find out and they would call her father, he would deny everything and seem like the perfect parent and then when no-one was there she would receive a terrible beating, he had told her several times already that if anyone would find out he'd murder her.

"She doesn't want to show her body because she-…" he was suddenly shut up as she stood in front of him with pleading eyes, yet she didn't look him right in the eye, she deemed to be afraid to do so instead she seemed to be looking at his chin. But he could see her eyes and he could hear her mumble: "I know I have no right to be asking favors of you but please do not tell them the truth, I would be forever in your debt if you don't tell them the truth" she finished as she turned her face down again away from him. With that said she walked off into the hallway and behind her she heard Sasuke finish his explanation: "she has been in an accident and is afraid to show the damage it has done to her body" She sighed in relief that he at least had some humanity in his body. Little did she know he was looking at her retreating form, wondering what could be so serious that no one could ever know the truth.

"SAKURA-CHAN!" Naruto shouted as her started to run after her, he grabbed her arm as they walked into the hallway; she tried to pull away from him. They had arrived in a completely empty corridor… at least they thought they had… they both hadn't noticed the raven haired guy following them, who was now watching them secretively.

"Naruto please leave me alone." She tried to walk away again but grabbed both her upper arms and held on tightly, she hissed in pain he was holding her right at one of her bruises. He noticed her pain but decided to wait with asking her. "What the fuck happened back there Sakura-Chan?"

"Nothing happened, he was just going to say things that weren't true" she said as she tried to ignore the pain coming from her upper arms. Naruto didn't quite believe her when she said nothing was wrong but slowly nodded. "But would you mind telling me why you are not joining P.E.? And don't come up with that lame ass excuse you used on, Gai-sensei cause I know that is nonsense."

She bit her lip, she couldn't come up with anything he would believe, all her excuses seemed too simple. She knew that she would have to come up with something serious, but she couldn't possibly tell her about her father now could she?

She looked down, still thinking, but at the same time doubting if maybe she shouldn't tell him. Then she thought of the solution "W-well… You know I was being bullied at my old school, right?" she saw him nod and continued. "T-this w-went as far as…" she bit her lip "Them b-beating me up…" she quickly looked away again, completely embarrassed to say the least. She wasn't proud of lying to him, but she was even less proud of telling him of her actual injuries. "WHAT? You mean…?" She quickly covered his mouth with her hand "That no-one's in this corridor doesn't mean you can shout it through the complete building Naruto" she hissed. Naruto nodded: "Sorry, Sakura-chan. B-but could you show me…?"

Again she bit her lip this time harder than the last slowly she nodded and turned around lifting up her shirt and showing her back to him. Naruto looked at it and was shocked this was terrible. "Will this fade away?" he softly mumbled. She nodded as she quickly pulled her shirt down again "I-it probably will, I-I just don't want anyone else to know, o-okay?" He nodded "Yes I understand, Sakura-chan, no-one will hear anything from me"

Sasuke had been watching them just within hearing range he had heard and seen the whole thing. What he didn't know was why the girl had been lying to Naruto. He knew no one had ever given her a beating like that at her old school and even if they had. They wouldn't have done it as often as she had missed P.E. at her old school. She had also sat at the side the first P.E. lesson at their old school. When she lifted up her shirt he knew for sure she had been lying, the bruises were quite fresh most of them couldn't be more than a day or two old.

He smirked as he realized he could get quite a bit out of this. As soon as she heard Naruto and Sakura say goodbye to each other and had seen Naruto take a turn at the corner he walked up to her, and pushed her against one of the lockers.

"Well hello, cherry blossom, great to see you again. Have you missed me?"

He saw the little color of her face fade and she looked away in fear. Suddenly a strange feeling washed over him… Was it guilt? He watched her as he noticed her body was trembling and she had gone completely rigid, all he heard we soft whimpers coming from her. He didn't really know what was causing those the pain caused by being pushed against the locker or her fear of him. Suddenly he didn't understand why he was so keen on hurting her every time.

His eyes observed her complete form. Her clothing wasn't too feminine like she was afraid to show off her curves, but even though she was wearing an oversized hooded sweater and oversized jeans you could see her body was actually very small and extremely fragile. Her pink hair could be given more care and would be much better off if it would be allowed to fall freely around her shoulders. Her face was pale and her eyes dull. He didn't know why but suddenly he found himself hoping he would be able to make her smile. He shook his head in confusion. What was that all about? He looked down at her again, she was tiny the top of her head barely reached his shoulder. How could he ever have considered picking on someone so much smaller than him self. He sighed slightly, and put his hand out to her. His face emotionless. "Look I'm really not as bad as I seem. I just tend to hang out with the wrong crowd, can we at least have a ceasefire?"

She looked up at him in shock, Uchiha Sasuke was being nice to her? He had kept her secret for her earlier right? Maybe he be telling her the truth that he wasn't that bad after all? She looked down at his hand and considered her options, she still didn't trust him but slapping that hand away would get her in more trouble for sure. At least she had a chance of him acting nicer to her when the ceasefire was active.

Hesitantly she took his hand and shook it lightly, but then she softly mumbled: "But I never fired at you"

There it was again that pang of guilt in his chest. "I'm going to redeem myself some day" He slowly let go of her hand, which he was still holding. He watched her walk away slowly before he called after her softly: "Oh Sakura, I would consider to stop lying to my friends if I were you…" Then he started walking away as well.

She turned her head in shock, he had heard what she had told Naruto? Her secret wasn't going to be safe for very long. Her mind was already trying to come up with things to tell Sasuke of how she had actually gotten injured.


	3. Getting help

**The New Girl**

_Chapter three- getting help._

When Sakura arrived home her father was already waiting for her. "Your P.E. teacher called today, cherry blossom, seems like you haven't joined in the P.E. lesson because of your knee injury..." She already knew what was coming next no matter what she did her father would always be mad at her for doing it. She slowly bowed and mumbled: "Forgive me, Dad, but if I had joined in the P.E. lesson everyone would have known..." This made her father furious as always. "And you think they won't find out if you never join the P.E. lessons?!" Suddenly he took a hold of her hair and pulled her to the living room by her hair, she whimpered and whined for him to let her go, but her dad didn't respond. He suddenly let go of her hair dropping her to the ground: "You should be thankful that I let you stay in this house, I've fed you and cared for you all this time!" he grabbed the belt from his pants and started whipping her with that, every hit felt like a thousand needles breaking her skin, it left red marks all over her back.

Sakura tried not to make a sound, as he would take it as a sign of weakness. "Why do you make me do this every time, Sakura? Why do you not try a little harder for your old father? Why do you keep disappointing him?" He stopped whipping her with the belt but slowly brought his hands around her neck, pressing down hard, squeezing her windpipe shut in the process. She couldn't breath only a few hoarse pleas came out, as tears came running down her cheeks: "Daddy please, give… me-.. a-another ch-chance… Le-Let me tr-try… one more time" He dropped her to the ground just before she thought she'd pass out. "One more chance! That's all you're getting! Now… OUT OF MY SIGHT" She coughed, trying to catch her breath but scrambled to get out as quickly as she could and made her way upstairs.

When she arrived at school the next morning she wore a turtleneck sweater, so no one would be able to see the marks her father had left in her neck. She sat down in the back of the classroom and she saw Naruto sitting down next to her. "Good morning" He said smiling. She returned the gesture and did her best to sound enthusiastic when she wished him a good morning. The lesson wasn't really exciting just the usual she finished the assignments quickly and used the rest of the time to draw. After that she had science, which wasn't exciting either except for Naruto almost putting his labcoat on fire.

But then lunch break started, Sakura made her way to her locker to change her books and she just stayed there not wanting to deal with anyone right now. She sat down on the ground with her back against her locker and started a new drawing. But when she saw Sasuke together with Ino and her crowd walk up to her, she knew she had made a wrong decision. "Look who's there, it's Pinky! Why would you wear a turtleneck sweater when it's such a beautiful day Pinky. Isn't it too warm for that?" She heard Ino say in a teasing tone. Then she heard the girl with the buns speak: "I guess she's just hoping we won't see how fat she is when she wears a sweater like that one!" Everyone began to laugh except for Sasuke and Sakura.

Sakura just kept her focus on her drawing, while she let Ino and her friends speak: "You aren't saying anything are you emo?" Suddenly she heard the boy with the pineapple shaped head say. "Why don't you take off that hot sweater I'm sure you would like some air" and she felt how Ino and Tenten pulled her up and started pulling at her sweater finally tearing it apart completely. They had been right the sweater had been suffocating but that was why she was just wearing her bra under it. She stood there almost naked for everyone to see, her body on full display. Everybody could see the scars and bruises covering her complete body and everyone could see how skinny she actually was. She dove down hugging her knees to her to try and cover her body as much as possible, when she suddenly she felt someone's jacket being put around her body as everyone had been staring at her in shock. She had expected to see Naruto next to her but she was shocked to see it had been Sasuke who had covered her upper body, she immediately looked down to the ground again. Nobody said anything and before anyone had the guts to speak up she jumped up and had begun to run out but before she could reach the end of the hallway she felt a hand take hold of her arm. She was pulled back and she felt an arm wrap itself around her.

She felt an arm wrap itself around her shoulders and noticed Sasuke had started leading her to Kakashi's classroom. He lead her in and saw him walking up to Kakashi and they started to talk in hushed tones, she did her best to catch what they were saying but for some reason they didn't want her to hear. Finally she heard Kakashi speak: "Okay Sasuke go ahead I'll inform both your teachers..." Sasuke walked back to the door but turned to her when she didn't get up to follow him and said: "Sakura, come" Hesitantly she got up and followed him, he brought her to the parking lots and opened the door of his car for her. She stopped: "Don't we have to go to school I still have lessons." He snorted: "I don't think they would let you come back in the lesson with bruises like the ones you have, just sit down" She did what he told her to do and sat in the car, she closed her seatbelt and when he had sat down in the car she asked: "Where are you going to take me?" He closed his seatbelt and started the car. "I'm taking you to my home where you will get a decent meal and where my brother is going to take a look at those wounds and bruises of yours."

She suddenly got scared, why had she stepped into this car with him? She knew what he had done to her, why he got kicked out of school and why she had to change schools. Why had she suddenly trusted him? "Why would I believe you?" she asked as she now looked at his expression. She saw an emotion flash over his face, which she couldn't quite pinpoint but it quickly faded and his face turned to emotionless again. "Because apparently you don't have a choice anymore since you already chose to step into this car with me" He drove onto a driveway to a huge mansion, he helped her step out and lead her to the front door, he lead her in and let her sit down on the couch. He told her to stay exactly where she was and then he left the room to come back with a guy who looked very much like him but older.

The older version of Sasuke sat down next to her: "Hey, I heard your name was Sakura" He smiled gently at her. "I'm Itachi, Sasuke's older brother, I'm studying to be a doctor… Sasuke asked me if I could give you a check up..." Sakura shook her head "N-No... no d-don't i-if he finds out" She got up and tried to run for the front door but she soon collided with a strong chest and felt two arms wraps around her. She noticed Itachi was still sitting on the couch so this had to be Sasuke holding her right now. Softly he mumbled: "Your father won't find out... Really just trust us okay?" Sakura had started crying, her shoulders were shaking, she tried to get out of his grip, but he was holding her too tightly. Sasuke looked down at her scared figure… so he had guessed right it had been her father doing this to her. "I have no reason to trust you…" She whimpered as she resumed to struggle against his grip. "Let me go, please!" Sasuke was starting get mad now "And then what? Let you go back home so you can get beaten to death by your father"

Suddenly she stopped struggling and she closed her eyes, before she whispered: "H-He wouldn't… He j-just wants to help me get perfect" This got Sasuke furious: "WHAT?" He let go of her so she fell to the ground she started to crawl backwards as he came closer and closer. "PERFECT?! So he starves you and beats you nearly to death so you'll be the perfect daughter?!" Sasuke was seething, his voice silent but sounded like he was ready to kill. She started to whimper and crawl away in a corner; she was obviously terrified to say the least. Itachi gently nudged Sasuke in the side so he would see how scared he was making her. "That's not what we're trying to accomplish here, right?"

Sasuke stared at her scared form; she was still trying to get further away from him as if she hoped that somehow she would be able to crawl through the walls. He sighed a little and kneeled down before her, he noticed Itachi walked into the kitchen to get her something to eat. Slowly he reached out for her and stroked through her hair, which made her look up in surprise. Tears about to spill from her eyes. "I'm sorry Sakura, I didn't mean to scare you like that... You know what we'll first get you a shower and I'll let one of the maids get you some clothing to wear the coming days and when we're done Itachi will be done with lunch for you." He saw her slowly relax; as he kept stroking through her hair, slowly she nodded. He helped her up and led her upstairs, into the bathroom. On the way he quickly spoke to a maid to get her some clothing from the shops and handed her some money to get them. He followed her in to explain how everything worked and that she should feel free to use anything she needed "I'll be right outside if you need me, leave the door unlocked… I won't come in unless you call me." Then he stepped out to give her some privacy he closed the door behind himself and sat down against the opposite wall. After a while he heard the shower running, he sighed and raked a hand through his hair.

He started to consider how many years it had been that she'd been going through that. He closed his eyes thinking, now he remembered that he'd actually known this girl for a long time. They'd always been going to the same school, she hadn't always been like this. Now that he thought about it her behavior had suddenly changed when they we're about eight years old. It was strange how children's minds worked, to pick on the easiest target. The kid who had just lost her mother and got beat up by her dad also got picked on at school. It really didn't seem fair, yet he had joined in. But unlike what Sakura thought, he hadn't been the cause of the worst thing they had done to her. That time he had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time, but try explaining that to anyone. Besides it's not like it helped her in anyway that he's never done any of the actual bullying, he hadn't actually stood up for her either. He was just as bad as all the others. He noticed the maid putting a few bags of clothing next to him, and he put a quick outfit together and knocked on the door as the shower had been turned off a while ago.

"Sakura?!" He heard a soft muffled: "Come in." He slowly opened the door and handed her the clothes, she already looked so much different just wrapped up in a large towel, with washed hair and everything. "I'll put the other bags in the guestroom for you. Come downstairs when you're ready. I think lunch is ready." Sakura took the set of clothing and put everything on, when Sasuke had closed the door again. Sasuke had given her a pair of skin tight jeans and a top with a slight v-neck. She looked around for something to cover her arms and neck but Sasuke had already taken her old clothes away to throw them out. She slowly stepped out trying her best to cover her arms a little with her hands, as she hesitantly walked into the dining room. Itachi noticed her walk in and gestured for her to join them at the table. She walked towards them and sat down next to Sasuke, who turned the corners of his mouth up ever so slightly. She looked down at the plate in front of her the food on it looked and smelled amazing. Yet she didn't eat a single bite of it.

"Sakura, you really should eat." Sasuke said as she refused to take a bite. She shook her head and mumbled: "I-I shouldn't" Sasuke sighed: "If you continue starving yourself you won't ever be perfect for your dad to see. Maybe he may see it when you lie in your coffin" He held a bite before her mouth. She looked up at him with scared eyes "So open your mouth and eat. So he can see his perfect daughter alive and well." Reluctantly she started to eat, after only two bites she started eating by herself she loved this so much it was delicious!

After lunch Itachi would do her check up, he led her to the living room and closed the door, he figured it would be best if Sasuke wasn't there to see everything. He let her sit down on the couch: "Shall we start out simple? Can you show me your arms?" She slowly stuck out her right arm to him, he cleaned the wounds that were there from when she tried to protect herself from things her father would hit her with. He wrapped her arms up in bandages and then made her show him her back. All the while he was softly talking to her to try and make her as comfortable as possible. Her back was in absolute terrible shape some of the wounds were starting to get infected and Itachi had to spend a lot of time cleaning that up. After over two hours he was finally done with her complete body and he told her to go upstairs and take a nap.

Sakura slowly made her way upstairs when she got to the guestroom where she would be sleeping she looked at the clock and noticed what time it was, and freaked out. She really needed to get home. School was about to end and if she got home late her father would make her pay for it. She was certain however she wouldn't be able to walk out through the front door. She looked around in panic and then noticed the window she looked out and thanked her luck when she saw vines going all the way down to the ground next to her window, she quickly climbed down and ran home as quickly as she could.

When dinner was ready Sasuke came up to wake Sakura, who he thought had been taking a nap in their guestroom. But when he got there Sakura was nowhere to be seen. The window of her room had been opened wide and he looked out to see the vines next to the window. He swore loudly, and ran down. "Itachi, Sakura's gone! We need to go get her!" Itachi came out of the kitchen: "It's no use… Even if you do find her house what will you do when you get there, her father will deny everything and she'll be faced with his full wrath." Sasuke knew his brother was right but he couldn't just sit here and do nothing while she was getting beaten to pulp, he'd done that for nine years already, that was more than long enough, he looked out the window it was already November the days were getting shorter and colder. It was already getting dark and it was only nearing 6 pm. He looked out like that considering what to do to finally safe this girl; it would be one of the first things he did right. He picked up his phone and called his teacher Kakashi, he would at least be able to tell him her address. He would have to go from there.


	4. Irrational loyalty

**The New Girl**

_Chapter four- Irrational loyalty_

It was raining out, it had gotten dark quite quickly and it was cold and still getting colder as the night had only just started. Yet here she was, Sakura, dragging her feet towards the only place she had ever felt remotely safe. It seemed strange to her that only a few hours ago she had felt happier than she had ever had since her mom died, and yet here she was now struggling to stay conscious, barely clothed in the bitter cold trying to make her way back to the place where she had felt safe for the first time in years, Sasuke's house. Nobody was in the streets most people were enjoying dinner with their families right now, the rain had caused everyone to seek refuge in their warm homes with a nice cup of hot cocoa. She thought about what had happened when she got home.

She had not expected that her teachers would have called her dad to inform him of her injuries. But they had, and her father had not been happy, he had explained the school that she was the unruly type; that she often found herself in out of hand bar fights. She didn't know whether they had believed him, but it didn't matter. That phone call had been reason enough for her father to beat her until she lost consciousness. Then when she woke up he had noticed the new clothes she had been wearing he had torn them off of her, screaming at her that she was unthankful while given her another beating, at some point he had even grabbed a kitchen knife and cut her in various places. Then afterwards he had kicked her out of his home telling her that she should go back to that place where she had gotten those 'ridiculous clothes' since she wasn't welcome in his house any more.

She turned her head to look back, but was only to be discouraged when she noticed she had spent almost half an hour outside and yet she could still see the house she used to live in. Her heart was beating uncontrollably, she was panting heavily and with every step she took she felt her whole body cry out in pain, she had already fallen to the ground several times, when she finally turned the first corner she felt she didn't have the energy to continue, and she let herself slowly sink to her knees and she laid down on the ground facing the sky. 'Mom I tried… I tried to survive…' she cried as she thought this might be her last living moments. 'Mom I really tried to love him take care of him, be strong for you, but I can't go on… I just wish I could see you one more time…' she closed her eyes and slowly lost consciousness for the second time that day.

Sasuke had run out as soon as he had found her address, he jumped in his car and drove towards her house as quickly as possible. It was pissing with rain, but he really didn't care at that point. Sakura's loyalty to her dad could cost her her life. He was almost there but while he turned the last corner he suddenly noticed a lone figure lying in the streets, pail almost white skinned. He immediately stepped on the breaks when he saw a bit of bubblegum pink, he stepped out taking off his jacket, and ran up to her he lifted her up without any difficulty, wrapped her in his jacket and placed her in the passengers seat of his car, he started driving towards the hospital as fast as he could, turning up the heat in the car as far as possible. "FUCK IT, Sakura! What the hell were you thinking!?" She looked terrible, her face swollen and already showing signs of bruises, she had cuts all over her body some seemed deep and started to bleed more again now her body was slowly starting to warm up, he pressed one of his hands to a particular nasty cut to apply pressure and hopefully slow down the breathing, while still driving the car with his other hand.

As he carried her into the hospital she was immediately taken from him and brought to the OR. He finally found himself capable of breathing normally again as he sat down waiting for the doctors to tend to her wounds. But his breath stocked again as he remembered the state she had been in. He could not imagine that she would be able to pull through, and he whole-heartedly wished he had done something sooner. He called Itachi to inform him of what had happened and Itachi immediately came over as well.

Together the brothers waited for hours, they had both fallen asleep when a doctor finally stepped out of the OR early the next morning. The doctor looked around for anyone who looked like the parents of the girl she had just treated but couldn't find anyone but the two young men sleeping near the doors to the OR so she decided to wake them up. "Are you here for Haruno Sakura?" Sasuke nodded he had immediately been wide-awake when he saw the doctor: "How is she?" the doctor sighed: "She's going to be okay, but she has received a terrible beating. I was actually looking to speak to her parents." The blonde female doctor said as she looked around for any sign of them again. Itachi spoke this time as Sasuke growled in anger: "Her mother passed away several years ago, her father is the cause of the state she is in"

The doctor slowly sat down, silent for a while as she took in the information she had just received: "I see… and you are friends of hers?" Sasuke looked down still angered: "I wish…" The doctor looked at him confused by his reaction "Is either of you Sasuke? She wanted me to give him a message" Sasuke slowly stood up: "Yeah that's me, where is she, can I go see her?" The doctor stood up again as well: "She's resting but I think there's no harm in letting her apologize herself when she wakes up." The doctor, who turned out to be named Tsunade lead him towards Sakura's recovery room as Itachi grabbed his phone to call their school to inform them Sasuke and Sakura wouldn't be in that day.

Sasuke sat down next to her bed she was still sleeping tightly, he got mad just looking at the way her father had wounded her again. The only reason he was certain it was her was the pink hair framing her swollen face. He figured he wouldn't have recognized her otherwise. He just sat there in silence; he had a hard time looking at her. Everytime he did he realized it could have been avoided, he could have made sure this had not happened. What had Tsunade meant by that Sakura had wanted to apologize to him? She didn't have any reason to apologize; he was the one who let her down for nine years, together with almost every other person at school. He carefully took her small hand in his bigger ones, just to let her know he was there. Some part of him had always kept looking at her as his friend, but he didn't deserve her as one, he had betrayed her along with everyone else. He carefully wiped a few hairs from her face, and placed his hand to her cheek for a while, the bruising caused it to feel warm to the touch. He pulled his hand away from her cheek after a while but kept holding her hand in his. Watching her quietly, while waiting for her to wake up.

It took another hour for her to finally stir. She moaned softly as she woke up, she was surprised that she didn't feel any pain, she concluded either she was drugged up or she had be wrong all her life and there was some sort of heaven. She was lying in a comfortable bed, and she felt warm hands hold one of her own hands. She figured it must have been the first of her two options, she kept her eyes closed as she mumbled: "How the hell did I get in a hospital?"

Sasuke chuckled lightly in response; it wasn't the sentence he had expected to hear from her when she woke up. Then his face turned serious again: "I found you laying in the streets last night… You were either bleeding or freezing to death" She opened her eyes but shut them at the brightness of the white room she was in, then she slowly opened them again and turned her head towards Sasuke. She looked at him: "I'm sorry I left, I-I shouldn't have, I freaked out when I saw what time it was." He sighed for what felt like the hundredth time that day: "You're right you shouldn't have left, but I guess, it's hard to hate someone you used to love so much. You and your irrational loyalty." He smiled slightly trying to lighten the mood a little.

"Sasuke?" She didn't look directly at him as she asked what had been on her mind for a few days now ever since he offered her the truce: "What made you change your behavior towards me so suddenly?" He looked at her, surprise written all over his face, he hadn't really expected her to question his behavior towards her out loud, not that she was wrong to question it, he just figured she'd take it without questioning. He turned his eyes up to the ceiling: "Which version do you want to hear?" She looked at him confusion present in her eyes: "How about the true one?" She tried to sit up a bit to look at him while listening to his explanation.

He smirked a little as he sighed once again: "I figured… The true version is that, even though I considered you a friend before your mother died, I was too weak to stand up for you when the bullying started. At first I didn't like doing it but as a kid I was scared that standing up for you would put me in the same position you were in." He paused as he thought for a moment. "After a while it was getting easier and easier to ignore you and let everyone bully you, and it would get easier to add a snide remark to what everyone else had been throwing at you." He raked a hand through his hair. "I do not plead to be innocent, I should have stood up for you, but I think I should tell you that other then snide remarks and showing a lack of interest in your wellbeing, I wasn't the one following you with the mean pranks." He got up and walked towards the window staring out of it. "I got kicked out of school for being at the wrong place at the wrong time, the spiders that had been set loose in the dressing room where you had been changing were not put there by me I just happened to walk past that dressing room as you ran out displaying your body to everyone who had wanted to see it"

She bit her lip remembering what had happened that day; how Sasuke had been blamed since he had been seen leaving the gym just moments before. The gym that would lead you to the other entrance of the dressing room she had been in. It took her a while to register that he was speaking again: "I guess I just never took a good look at you before, if I had I would have realized earlier that we we're picking on someone who clearly needed help." She could only stare at him, it took a while to register what he had said, and even when she did realize what he had said, she didn't really know what to say to that. Sasuke respected she needed time to thing and didn't want to overwhelm her even more, so he just sat down in the windowsill.

She needed to think, she needed to get things clear in her head. Her initial reaction to what Sasuke had said would have been to say that she was fine and didn't need help. Her lying in the hospital right now and having been ready to die the evening before made those statements untrue, even in her mind. She had indeed needed help for a long time now. She also wondered why no one else had seen it, was the situation she had been in something that everyone would rather avoid, she figured everyone would be as surprised as Sasuke had been when they heard what had caused her injuries and such. Was domestic violence something people unconsciously avoided to see, even when it was staring them in the face? It was a painful subject she knew that, but was it so painful that it would go unnoticed like that for years even though it was right under peoples' noses? Then there was her current situation, what would she do now? Her father had forbidden her to come back to the house; she didn't live there anymore. Where would she go? And now everyone would know what happened to her what would happen to her father, she still loved him even though he had caused her so much pain. She didn't want to go back to that house, yet she didn't want him to go to jail or anything either.

It took her at least an hour to get things sorted in her head, it was strange now she was lying in the hospital it seemed as if she could view her life as if it wasn't hers. Softly she spoke: "It must have been obvious something was wrong with me…" Sasuke looked up at her now she was speaking again, and nodded slowly. "Yet no one considered it was as serious as it actually was" she continued, he knew she was trying to understand where Sasuke was coming from "…people tend to avoid the painful subjects, to such an extent that they don't even realize it's going on…" Sasuke stood up slowly and looked down at her, he sat down on the edge of her bed and carefully took her small hand in his. "I appreciate what you're trying to do, but you really don't need to rectify my behavior towards you. What I did… what we all did was wrong. School should be a relatively safe place. People shouldn't make your life worse there." She sighed, she knew he didn't understand what she was trying to say: "I know that, and bullying shouldn't be done in the first place and all that shit. But I shouldn't expect everyone to realize what is going on with me. I was trying to hide it for one and acting weird cause of it for one, but secondly people don't see what they don't want to see. I'm not saying I agree with what you all did, but I'm just not angry because I see where it was coming from." She took a deep breath: "I don't know if I would have acted differently in your place…" She was slightly out of breath because of talking so much; she closed her eyes to focus on regaining it, when she suddenly felt his lips gently press against her forehead. Sasuke had stood up before she opened her eyes and was turning to walk to the door. "Get some more rest, I'm going to see if I can find out how things are going to be arranged"

She smiled softly then she realized she hadn't asked one of her most burning questions: "Sasuke?" She continued as she noticed he had stopped before the door: "What will happen to my dad?" She thought she heard him growl at that question but when he answered his voice was calm: "I don't know, Sakura, I'll try to find that out as well. Now go back to sleep, I've kept you up for too long"

She closed her eyes slowly but she really couldn't sleep it was still only eleven am and everything that had happened was racing through her head. She didn't know what would happen now, but she did know things were going to drastically change for the second time in her life. It was nearing one pm when she finally fell asleep only to be awoken three hours later by a loud angry voice coming from the hallway. It was so loud she could literally hear every word: "What do you mean I can't go see her?! THAT BASTARD COULD! We're her friends, Dattebayo! I'm not about to leave her here on her own anytime soon!" She slowly turned to place her feet on the ground and stood up, even though feeling a little uncertain on her feet, she stumbled forward towards the door opening it slowly: "It's alright I'm awake."

**Well Finally there it is another chapter, I don't know how long it's going to take for me to get the next chapter up but I promise you, I am going to finish this thing. Hope you like it, let me know what you think. Sorry for any typos or grammar mistakes, I did take the once I could find out but well… **


	5. He cares for me, he doesn't care for me

**The New Girl**

_Chapter five- He cares for me, he doesn't care for me_

"Sakura-chan!? Is that you? You look terrible!" Naruto exclaimed after she had opened the door to reveal Naruto and Hinata with a doctor before them and Sasuke close behind them. Sasuke stepped passed them, to help her back to her bed, as he noticed the way Sakura was swaying on her feet.

"You really shouldn't be up and about, come on get back in bed" He lead her back and helped her back into her bed, making sure to place some pillows behind her back to support her while sitting up. As Naruto and Hinata stepped into the room Sasuke stepped back and made his way towards the window sitting down in the far corner of the room on the windowsill.

Naruto just glared at him, he obviously didn't get why he was here taking care of Sakura, but before he could say anything about it Sakura spoke: "Naruto, don't, it's alright." As she said the last two words a slight smile formed on her face, which soon turned in to a soft laugh when she saw Naruto's dumbstruck face: "But he" Naruto started, looking bewildered "He hurt you! Right?!"

While looking down at her hands, tracing the bruises that had formed there lightly with her fingertips, she mumbled: "He didn't, that was a misunderstanding…" She looked up at Naruto and Hinata, even though she could see Naruto was trying to act like nothing was going on she recognized the spooked reaction on Hinata's face. For the first time since the last beating her father had given her she let her fingers reach for her face. She had obviously felt that her face was swollen up and bruised, without needing to touch it, but she had no idea how bad it was.

"He used to keep his hands of my face, I guess it didn't matter to him anymore when everyone at school had already found out…" she spoke softly, getting really uncomfortable now she realized it was all there for the world to see. It didn't matter that the name of the ward she was on didn't specify what she was here for, it was quite literally written all over her face.

"T-That's okay, Sakura, w-we just didn't expect you t-to ehm… look quite this…" Hinata had started but she was struggling to find a polite way to describe the way she looked. Sakura smiled slightly at the struggling girl. Then suddenly she heard the raven speak again: "This fucked up, you mean?" Hinata and Naruto looked a little startled at the angry sounding voice behind them, but after a moment of silence they were all surprised to hear Sakura chuckle: "That's a nice way of putting it."

Sakura spent a while telling the whole story of what happened to Naruto and Hinata. She even told them how it had all started when her mother died and the way her dad had changed after that. After that Naruto switched to a happier subject having had enough of the grim stories and hours went by of Naruto, Hinata and Sakura chatting and even laughing, while Sasuke was mostly silent in his spot on the window sill. After a while he finally did speak up when he noticed Sakura was starting to look tired: "We should really go and let you sleep"

Sakura didn't argue even though she wanted to spend more time with her friends, Hinata told her they would visit everyday even if it was just to drop off her homework. Then they said their goodbyes and left.

Although Sakura knew Sasuke was keen on letting her rest as much as possible, she had at least expected him to say goodbye to her as well. Yet he hadn't, he had just lead Naruto and Hinata out of the room and had closed the door behind the three of them. It had disappointed her that he wouldn't go through the trouble of telling her goodbye, not that she planned on letting him know that.

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It had been two weeks since Sakura had been brought into the hospital, her body was slowly turning back to it's normal size with the swelling going down, and also her bruises were slowly fading.

With the extra time she had on her hands now she couldn't go to school she read books her doctor Tsunade would bring in for her. She had taken a special interest into the human anatomy and the practice of medicine and after she had done the homework Hinata would bring in for her she'd always be diving into one of those book. Even though those books, her homework and the people that would visit her everyday did fill her time quite effectively, she couldn't help but wonder why she hadn't seen Sasuke at all in those two weeks.

She had received a card from Itachi whom she had only gotten to know that one afternoon he helped her, yet she had heard nothing from Sasuke ever since he had left her room with Hinata and Naruto that day. Sakura slowly set up in her bed and looked at all the cards she had received, most of them came from people at school she barely even knew. There we're even cards from Ino and Tenten who had wanted to say how sorry they felt for what they had done to her and that they really didn't know what was going on.

Those cards confused her to no end, because she knew the general idea was that no one should be bullied. And Sakura felt that the fact they had been picking on her and wouldn't have stopped if they had not found out about her dad should cause her to be angry with them. Yet she couldn't find it in herself to not be able to forgive them for what they had done. She wondered whether it had really been that bad or whether it just was her situation that made the bullying the last drop to cause everything to overflow?

She looked up when she saw the door was opened and she hoped it would reveal the raven-haired boy that she had been thinking so much of the past few weeks. Instead her blond haired doctor stepped inside, who laughed a little when she heard the pinkette sigh in disappointment. "Not who you hoped to see?" Sakura blushed and immediately looked away mumbling: "I-It's not that…" Tsunade laughed again as she switched the books Sakura had read for some new ones "Don't worry he'll stop by soon enough"

Sakura looked up at her doctor who smiled sweetly at her: "How do you know that? What if he just doesn't want to see me anymore?" Sakura sat up in her bed and leaned against the headboard as Tsunade did a few tests on her. "Let's just say I have a knack for reading people" Tsunade wondered inwardly how the girl she had grown so fond of, that was so smart when it came to learning from books, could be so thick when it came to reading emotions.

"Well just trust me then" The honey eyed doctor said to her patient. "He'll have stopped by again before the end of the week." With that she left the girl as she had to resume her rounds.

Sakura sighed again as her doctor left. This was so confusing, she knew she wanted Sasuke to drop by but why it had gotten so important to her she couldn't understand. She wanted him to care, maybe because he had been one of the first to do so? When had things gotten so complicated? A few weeks ago life had been easy to understand, it hadn't been fun or liveable even but it had been understandable. Sakura looked down at her homework and started working again, hopefully blocking those complicated thoughts from her mind.

After she had finished her homework she got up to shower, she had finally received the okay to be up and about two days ago. Before that she had to call a doctor whenever she wanted to get up even if she just wanted to use the bathroom. She had also asked Tsunade whether she could go and collect some of Sakura's things from her house.

She stepped in to the small adjoining bathroom, closed the door and looked at herself in the mirror. The bruises on her body were really starting to fade now, as she undressed she inspected her entire body and was happy to say that she was starting to look closer to normal than she had ever been. She was less pleased about the weight she had gained in the two weeks she had spent in the hospital. She still wasn't anywhere close to normal weight, but still she wondered what her father would say if he would see her again.

That was a subject she had been trying to avoid for a while; her father. Several people had tried to talk to her about him. Police had come to talk to her about what happened to her, only a few days ago. He had been taken into custody the day she was brought into the hospital, but the police had given her some time to rest and regain some strength before wanting to talk to her. They had questioned people in school about her and her father as well. Even though Sakura knew that what her father had done was wrong she couldn't yet bring herself to testify against him. She loved her dad, and somewhere she knew he loved her too, he was just confused and lost without his wife, whom he had lost because of Sakura.

She knew it wasn't entirely fair to blame her mother's death on herself, but it was partially true, they wouldn't have gone out that day if Sakura hadn't wanted to go buy a Christmas tree. Sakura stepped into the shower; she had wondered what Sasuke would say about her not testifying against her father, even though she could imagine what his words might be. He would think it was crazy for her not to want to testify after what he had done to her, he had nearly killed her. And she knew all that, but that didn't change the fact that the man was her father, right?

She turned the shower hot and washed her entire body with care, she washed and conditioned her hair as well before stepping out again half an hour later. After having dried herself off she dressed herself in a pair of her own clean pyjamas, wrapped her hair up in her towel and brushed her teeth before stepping back into her hospital room, only to be surprised by a raven-haired guy sitting leisurely on her bed.

After she had recovered from the slight shock she actually felt a little angry. She had been locked in here and he just decided he wouldn't show his face for two weeks and now he decided to barge in here again and sit there waiting for her like nothing had happened and also like she had been the one who had kept him waiting! He looked her up and down: "Took you long enough." His voice wasn't an angry one but he obviously had been impatient. That ticked her off: "Seriously? I could go back in there for another two weeks, you know? Care to explain now why you just left without saying a word?"

He sighed now he had obviously not expected her to be angry with him, let alone show it to him. But he wouldn't forget what he came here for in the first place: "Not before you've explained to me why you won't testify against that man" That took her by surprise he already knew about her conversation with the police? How had he found out? Then she remembered the advise she had been getting from everyone she had seen and spoken to in the hospital: Stand up for yourself, life will get a lot easier that way. "You would have known if you had cared enough to stop by earlier, now if you'll excuse me I need to rest."

It hurt her to be so mean to somebody who had helped her so much, but he was also the guy who had let her fall more than once. She brushed past him to get to her bed but was stopped by him grasping her shoulders tightly. She winced he wasn't hurting her but the way he was clutching her shoulders tightly and the intense look he was giving her scared her to no end. He wanted to let her go as soon as he saw her reaction to the way he was holding her, but at the same time he needed her to know that it wasn't his lack of care for her that had stopped him from visiting her. "I do care…" he just managed to grit out.

"I thought you did too after everything you did… two weeks ago" she looked up at him again defiantly. "Right, I get it now…" He let go of her and walked out of her hospital room again. Slamming the door behind him as he did.

She just stood there shocked by what had happened, what had he said to her? He had said that he cared… And instead of acknowledging that she had just denied it, tears started to well up in her eyes; tears she had managed to keep in for the entire conversation. They started to stream down her face and she sat down on the ground hugging her knees to her body, burying her face between them.


	6. Too many thoughts

**The New Girl**

_Chapter six- Too many thoughts_

As the impulse that had brought her to her sitting position on the floor was starting to wear off Sakura started to wonder what had come through her that she had become this crying mess. What had made her so dependent on people? People had let her down for years right? Had she so easily gotten used to the positive attention she had been getting for the past two weeks? She realized that she let people affect her too easily yet she couldn't bring herself to getting up of the floor and toughen up. It wasn't until minutes later that she calmed down and finally picked herself up of the ground and washed her face. Sure Hinata and Naruto wouldn't so easily let her down but others?

Most people who had sent her cards had been hateful towards her just a week prior. Could opinions change that easily? She had wanted to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, but this situation with Sasuke was making her realize something else. People have different faces; they play the part play and change roles for another situation. People are constantly busy trying to show others a certain part of themselves they want to highlight. Wasn't that what she had been doing at school as well, try to highlight the silent introvert part of herself so people wouldn't notice other things about her?

People play their parts that much was clear to Sakura, but that didn't mean none of those acts were true, right? Someone could still honestly be a nice person, in Sakura's mind. She wasn't ready to give up on her trust in people. These sort of thoughts had been plaguing her day and night ever since she was brought into the hospital, the only thing she could do to stop them was bury herself in books.

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Days passed and Sakura seemed to always be busy doing something, she'd either be asleep, reading, doing her homework or talking to either Hinata, Naruto or Tsunade. But whenever there was a quiet moment before she fell asleep her thoughts would plague her. All these thoughts made her feel like her head was going to burst, she couldn't think about one thing without the next thing coming up.

Four days after her encounter with Sasuke she finally decided it was too much for her to not do something about. She had too much to think about the fact that she had been shutting off her mind by doing her homework and reading medical books wasn't helping.

Sakura grabbed a notepad and a pen, and sat down on the windowsill and stared out of the window. No books or homework today: today she was going to figure her life out, and she would take any amount of time she would need for that. She wrote down _'dad'; _which brought her to the point of whether or not she would testify against him and where she was going to live when she could leave the hospital.

'_If I don't testify against him there's still a case, it won't be as strong, though… I would have to face what happened and the way most people see what happened'_ She sat there mulling it over chewing the back of her pen, it was hours later when her lunch was brought in that she finally came to a conclusion and asked the lunch lady whether she could call Tsunade for her. She still wasn't entirely sure of her plan but the pros were definitely outweighing the cons.

She still sat in the windowsill staring out of the window silently chewing on her meal. She took a deep breath when the door opened again: "Tsunade, could you call the police and tell them I'm ready to testify?" She said without looking away from the scene outside the hospital. Tsunade was taken aback by the statement and sat down next to the now quiet girl.

"Are you sure that is what you want to do, Sakura?" she said placing a hand on the girls shoulder the girl shook her head a little she now looked at the doctor who had come to care so much about her in only two weeks' time: "It's not what I want to do but I can't move on when he hasn't gotten he deserves by law, right? That's what everyone's been telling me, and I think telling the police my story will in the long run improve my… well… sanity, I think the word is." Regret filled the girl's eyes, it hurt her to make this decision but it was close to the only option.

The woman with honey-colored eyes pulled the girl in her arms telling her that she thought it was the right decision to make. The girl slowly relaxed into the woman's arms and sobbed for minutes straight. She enjoyed being consoled like this, and remembered that her mother used to hold her that exact same way when she was sad. That thought brought more tears to her eyes and it had been half an hour before her sobs finally died down and she sat up again slowly.

"Thank you, so much for helping me…" The doctor smiled warmly and squeezed the girl's hand affectionately. "You're welcome, honey. I'm glad I can help… I'll go call the officers for you" she said and stood up making her way towards the door, but was stopped by Sakura's soft voice: "Tsunade?" She waited for a reaction which came in the form of said woman turning around to face the girl: "Could you be here when I talk to them?"

Tsunade smiled again: "Of course Sakura if that would make you more comfortable." Then she walked out leaving the girl to prepare for the conversation she was dreading so badly, she ended up constantly reassuring herself that she was doing the right thing. 'I'm making the right call here, it might give him some time to finally sort things out, and maybe change back…"

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"Seriously!? I finally convince you to visit her again and you spend less than five minutes there before barging out again"

The blonde loudmouth was driving Sasuke insane, the blonde was closest to what Sasuke would call a friend of everyone he knew, but the knucklehead could drive him insane at any given time really.

"I told you already I spend half an hour in there, I don't like to wait" he managed to grit out suppressing the want to hit Naruto over the head. "Yeah so you decide as soon as she walks into the room that you wanted the wait to be for nothing and walked out without saying anything?! I know they say I'm the idiot, but you are sometimes an even bigger idiot, dattebayo!" That earned the blonde the long awaited fist to the face, "HEY, WHAT DID YOU DO THAT FOR?!" Sasuke leaned back, his mood slightly lifted by finally being able to let of some steam: "For being an idiot, idiot…" Sasuke went back into his brooding state, "She was angry with me… no not angry: Upset, and even though that feels just, she was upset for all the wrong reasons."

Naruto stared at his friend in awe: "Seriously, another guilt tripper? It's quite typical, really. You blaming yourself for not seeing things were wrong, Sakura blaming herself for not being 'a perfect daughter' and 'being the cause of her mother's death' and all that nonsense, do you think her dead has that guilt trip as well, for causing his daughter all this pain?"

Sasuke looked up at Naruto, he might be an idiot, but sometimes he did hit the nail right on the head; it was no use for all of them to feel they were to blame. Of course it would have been easier if anyone who had been in contact with Sakura had put two and two together, but that didn't change the fact that in the end her father was the one who was in the wrong here.

It just bothered Sasuke that, even though the girl went through so much and had so many people leave her to rot, the girl would still easily trust anyone who'd treat her nicely for just a moment. She forgave people so easily, and even though for his sake he didn't want that to change, he did want her to change that for her own sake.

"Hey, Teme, Earth to Teme!" Sasuke shook his head when Naruto started waving his hands before his eyes; he looked up at his blonde friend, "That man should go to jail."

"You came to that conclusion just now, really? Teme, you should really let yourself get checked. And even though I would greatly enjoy seeing a doctor tell you you're stupid, I really need to get going. I'm going to see Sakura-chan!"

"Hn" was the only response from the raven and got up to follow his friend to the hospital, much to surprise of the blonde, "You're coming with?! Seriously?!" Naruto started to drag his raven friend along as soon as he nodded in response and shoved his hands in his pockets.

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"they'll be stopping by tomorrow around noon" Tsunade said as she poked her head around the door, "And you've got some visitors, Sakura." The doctor opened the door fully to let the two boys inside. "Oh and you really need to start figuring out where you'll be living, it won't be long before I have to discharge you." Tsunade spoke before leaving the three alone.

Naruto hugged the girl before sitting down on the end of her bed, as the silent raven quietly took his regular seat on the windowsill. Sakura knew now why he found this place so comfortable, it was a great spot to think and figure things out. She had learned that much this afternoon, just feeling the sun on your face while you stare out at nothing in particular gave you that great sense of peace one would need to set things straight in their mind. She wondered what Sasuke would think about when sitting there, his thoughts were a mystery to her, unlike the thoughts of her blonde friend; he would blurt out any thought he had as soon as it would pop in his head.

"I don't se how you manage to keep up with all that homework we've been getting! I'm not even close to being finished and I've actually been going to school!" Naruto complained as he took he filled notebooks to hand them in at school the next day. "Would you mind if I copied yours, Sakura-chan? Kakashi-sensei will kill me if I don't hand anything in again!"

Sakura laughed at her friend, she knew he hadn't tried doing is homework at all, he'd probably had been busy doing other things, like eating ramen or doing sports. They had only known each other for weeks but it already felt like years to her: "I really do not approve, Naruto, but I can't stop you if you really want to since you've got my notebook all night anyway." She figured he'd probably even forget copying it from her, and freak out about it tomorrow morning at school, anyway. "You're great Sakura-chan!" Naruto shouted as he hugged his friend again.

They sat there talking for hours, and Sakura knew Sasuke wasn't paying attention, as his gaze was directed up to the sky and his eyes seemed almost a little glazed over. He hadn't said a word ever since he and Naruto had come in and she was surprised he even looked up when Naruto finally hugged Sakura goodbye and told her he'd see her tomorrow. Sasuke had looked up but he stayed in his spot, he wasn't moving to leave.

As Naruto walked out silence reigned over them for a while until Sasuke took in a deeper breath than usual, "Sakura…" He started but she just nodded, smiled and said: "I know Sasuke don't worry about it." She knew he wasn't going to say he was sorry out loud any time soon, but she knew that he was and that was all she needed.

"I heard you aren't going to testify against your father" Sakura looked up, Sasuke was direct, he immediately made his point. He had done that in the previous conversations they had had, but it still took her by surprise sometimes. The regret that had been in her eyes earlier that day in her conversation with Tsunade returned she had to collect herself before she finally spoke again: "You heard wrong, I wasn't going to testify… Yet. I just wasn't sure yet. My thoughts have been jumbled lately. But I've made up my mind this afternoon. The police will come tomorrow to hear my story…"

"Good" The room went quiet again as they both thought about everything that was creeping through their minds. The silence wasn't uncomfortable though, neither felt the need to break it until minutes later Sakura said: "I need to find a place to live though… you might have heard Tsunade mention it… I won't be able to live on my own since I don't have money to pay for a place." She felt the need to discus this with Sasuke since he had helped her so much just weeks ago, she figured he might have some ideas, so she continued when he didn't react just yet "If I end up going to a foster family chances are I'd have to move again… Itachi mentioned once you guys would have a spare bedroom for me to stay in… But that'd be kind of weird, I think…"

"Hn…" After a while Sasuke figured Sakura wouldn't understand and needed the translation of his barely verbal language, "If it's the only option, we'll just have to live through the weirdness of it. You can't move again now things are finally looking up for you here." Sakura smiled and blushed a little it had been one of the longest sentences she had ever heard him say and it had been nice words as well: "Thank you…"

"Just don't worry, we'll figure something out…"

Silence reigned again after that, those were the kindest words Sakura had heard Sasuke say ever and they hadn't been masked by a layer of nonchalance as well! They had been clear sweet words of consolation, meant to ease her mind. Sasuke wasn't quite sure where they had come from himself, but it had seemed like the right thing to say at that moment, and he didn't feel the need to take them back now.

When dinnertime came 'round Sasuke offered to get some better tasting food from outside the hospital, which they ate in silence when he came back. Neither felt the need to start a casual conversation. For Sakura his presence was enough, somehow she felt he understood.

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**Well chapter six, what do you think? It's a start to Sasuke and Sakura getting a little closer, but I don't think anything to interesting will happen between them yet. They need some time to really get comfortable with one another right? Well see you next time!**


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